Cal-Cruz Animal Cruelty – What Experts Say

Compassion Over Killing asked independent experts in animal welfare and physiology to review our video footage from Cal-Cruz Hatcheries. Here are excerpts from their statements:

Dr. Sara Shields, Ph.D. has a doctorate from the Univ. of California at Davis in Animal Behavior. Dr. Shields is a leading expert in animal welfare, with more than 10 years of experience as a research scientist, teacher, and consultant in animal welfare. She specializes in the welfare of poultry. After reviewing our video, Dr. Shields stated:

“I was truly disheartened by the obvious suffering of the chicks and ducklings I observed. … The most outstanding aspect of the video is what appears to be a general desensitization of facility employees to the sentient nature of these young animals.”

“It is inexcusable to leave animals who are clearly experiencing pain for a prolonged time period.”

“Overall, it appears that there is a general lack of safeguards to ensure that individual chicks and ducklings are cared for in an appropriate manner.”

Dr. Nedim C. Buyukmihci, DVM is a veterinarian internationally recognized for his professional expertise, with over 36 years of experience, much of it involving poultry. He is also Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the Univ. of California. After reviewing our video, Dr. Buyukmihci stated:

“I saw evidence of contusions, abrasions, limb or extremities amputations, and decapitations. These are clearly the result of external trauma and consistent with that which would be caused by the machinery.”

“[T]he workers themselves were a source of suffering for the birds. It was clear from their actions that there was no concern for the welfare of the birds. … The birds in this video were treated in an extremely brutal and uncaring fashion.”

“Because these birds are precocious animals and have a well-developed central nervous system at hatching, the injuries or other illness I saw would have caused considerable pain and suffering for the birds.”